The Reunion
by KillTheLights95
Summary: It has been twenty one long years since the events in Mockingjay took place. Now, Katniss Mellark's relatively quiet life is about to be turned upside down again, after a wedding invitation causes her to meet the one man she's been trying the hardest to avoid - Gale Hawthorne.


**Chapter One**

**The Invitation**

Katniss lies on her side, swathed in cotton sheets, her face a blank mask in her snoozing state. For once, she seems peaceful, so Peeta tentatively tiptoes into the bathroom for a quick shower, hoping she'll stay quiet before he comes back.

When he emerges, towelling off, leaving his blond curls rumpled, he hears soothing tones coming from their son's room. He sneaks down the hallway and peers round the doorway. Katniss has Samson on her hip, singing softly into his ear. Samson looks at her admiringly, his eyes the exact same shade of grey. Despite the similitude, their eyes are still different; Samson's are warm, cheerful, and full of innocence. Katniss' are like gunmetal, haunted by battle scars and painful memories. Nevertheless, looking at her smiling down on their two year old son, she is a fresh, innocent woman herself.

Peeta smiles to himself and Katniss looks up, the two of them locking eyes. "Did I wake you?" he asks.

She nods. "Honestly, Peeta. After all these years, you still don't know how to walk quietly."

He apologizes and ambles towards them, planting a quick kiss on her pointed nose. Her ruffles little Samson's hair and plucks him from Katniss' grasp, as Katniss heads off for a shower herself. Peeta goes to their daughters' room. She lies under the soft pink covers, her glossy ebony hair fanned out on the pillow. As he turns to leave though, not wanting to wake her, Wren opens her cobalt eyes and stares directly at him.

"Morning daddy," she chirps and she tosses the sheets off of her little body. Peeta is always surprised at the alertness his little girl possesses, the spring that is always in her step. Then again, she doesn't have a troubling childhood, filled with starvation and marred by the Hunger Games. Wren slips her pudgy hand in Peeta's and he leads her downstairs, Samson balanced on his hip, gurgling incoherently; he does not have his sister's attentiveness and is frequently all over the place in the mornings. Nevertheless, halfway down the staircase, he squirms in Peeta's arms and mumbles "Down. Not baby."

They walk down together, the three of them, and settle in the kitchen, where Peeta sets about starting a fire and making breakfast. Katniss appears, her raven hair a dripping chaos. She kisses Wren and tousles Samson's hair before heading to check the post.

Peeta lies breakfast out and he and Wren chat, Wren's little face animated as she tells him about her latest school experience. Katniss reappears, flicking through the mail, sorting them into two piles; read now, and read later. In the end, there are only two she chooses to read now, both postmarked District Four. Her mother, probably, and maybe Annie?

Taking a knife, Katniss slices open the first letter, which is adorned with curly lettering. _Definitely her mother_, thinks Peeta. He turns his attention to Samson, who is slurping his breakfast and dribbling it all over his chin. Peeta carefully wipes away the stickiness from his creamy face and lets him resume eating, still listening to Wren's jabbering.

He looks at Katniss, who is scanning her mother's letter with a confused expression on her face. Suddenly, her eyes widen and she tears open the second letter. "Peeta, look!"

Peeta rises and stands behind her, looping his arms around her to grab the second letter, which reads:

_**KATNISS AND PEETA MELLARK**_

_**AND CHILDREN**_

_**You are formally invited to the marriage of**_

_**Montgomery Finnick Odair**_

_**And**_

_**Diana Carolyn Mirran **_

_**On the 20**__**th**__** of March.**_

"They're getting married?" Peeta exclaims. "I didn't even know they were engaged!"

"Who, daddy?" pipes up Wren.

"Uncle Monty," says Peeta. He glances at Katniss, whose face is pale, her bottom lip wobbling. She has not left District Twelve since her banishment, which was revoked ten years ago. Going to this wedding will mean seeing Monty, Annie, her mother and quite possibly Gale, whom is apparently friends with Monty. An encounter with Gale is not what Katniss needs.

Seeing his wife's nervous energy, Peeta says hastily, "Come on, my treats, upstairs and get dressed. You can play in your rooms for a while."

Wren jumps down from her chair and grips her brother's hand. "Come on, Sammy, daddy says we have to go upstairs," she says bossily.

Katniss stands and slides her arms around Peeta, her head ducked under his chin. He presses against her, loving that she always hugs him like this when she nervous or afraid, her sleek hair tickling his neck.

"We have to go, don't we?" she says, her voice muffled against his chest.

"Not if you don't want to, Kat," he whispers. He pushes her away slightly, clasping her face between his hands. He stares into her stormy eyes, which are clouded with apprehension and says, "Katniss, you don't have to go."

"I know," she whispers. "But we should. I haven't seen my mother since I was seventeen. And can barely remember the last time Monty and Di were here." Sighing, she adds, "I can't avoid Gale forever." She inhales deeply, breathing in his scent of dough and vanilla and dil. They stand for what seems like an eternity, locked in an embrace, a million unsaid words passing between them. It's times like these they remember how much they really need one another.

A thud, followed by an officious screech from Wren reminds them where they are, that they have two young children to look after. Katniss pulls away first, wiping the moisture from her eyes and heading up the stairs to see what her children are up to. Peeta watches her go, her dark tresses swishing behind her, her footsteps careful and silent on the thick carpet. And he wonders what a reunion with his sister's killer will do to his precious Katniss…

* * *

Haymitch unfolds the letter with clumsy fingers, prattling unintelligibly to himself. He stares at the clean cream paper, embellished with neat lettering, so out of place in his grubby paw. His bleary eyes scan the words slowly and it takes a moment for them to sink in. He's going to a wedding.

He sighs heavily, remembering his teenage years with Catrin; saying goodbye to her after the reaping, her running into his arms when he stepped off the train, the Capitol murdering her. But he owes this to Annie. He wonders if Katniss and Peeta will go. Maybe. If Katniss can hold herself together. But a trip to District Four may just tip her off balance…

* * *

Shrieking from the boys, playing in the yard. Tory sits with her hands wrapped around a mug of warm tea, sipping it quietly while scanning a letter from Monty. She gasps suddenly and Gale whips round, snatching the letter abruptly. He scans it and says simply, "So they finally set a date."

"I guess," says Tory. She stands, her green eyes boring into his grey. "Gale," she whispers. "They've invited Katniss and Peeta. And their kids."

"Do you think they'll go?" Gale asks.

"What's stopping them? She's not the girl you knew Gale. She's a fully grown woman now." Tory slips her arms around his waist and they stand together, contemplating Katniss's reappearance.


End file.
